When city leaders gathered back in January to celebrate the official groundbreaking of The Marketplace adjacent to the BJCC complex, Ruben Studdard was on hand to announce plans for a new marathon and fitness event to be held in Birmingham. Those in attendance were told that details would be revealed later on this year – and they finally got some yesterday with the launch of the event’s official website.
The Ruben Studdard Celebration Weekend is scheduled for Sunday, November 20 and it will benefit the Ruben Studdard Foundation. The marathon will begin and end at Linn Park, taking participants along a single-loop route that keeps participants within the city limits the entire time. The original press release had suggested that the start and end points for the race would be Railroad Park.
The weekend is also scheduled to include a half-marathon, 5K and a gala event. Registration for all of the events are currently open.
This increases the number of marathons held in metro Birmingham to two a year, with the 2012 Mercedes Marathon scheduled for February 10-12. If the organizers of the Weekend are successful, the city will also have two local opportunities to qualify for the Boston Marathon.
In case you didn’t know, we’re hosting our first ever 
